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We facilitate the complete design and rendering of the project beforehand through digital software, allowing a visual representation of the steel structure project prior to commencing development. Once the design is approved, we can begin site preperation.
A foundation can be built for free out of stone on your land. This perimeter base of packed stone is referred to as 'the rubble trench'. It is a foundation that has been used successfully for thousands of years. Nothing is as durable as stone. And if you happen to have no stone on your property, simply order a truckload of gravel (about $200) - it works just as well.
Steps
1.
1.
Dig a perimeter trench along the boundaries of your proposed building. The trench should
be about 1.5' wide, and deep enough so that it's below the frostline. Use a pick/mattock to break up the soil, and a transfer shovel to shovel it out. The soil can be used as fill to build up the grade within the foundation, or outside it to slope the land down and away from the dwelling. When the trench depth is roughed out, use a square-ended shovel to scrape the bottom, so that the floor of the trench remains packed and undisturbed.
2.
2
Set in the largest stones first. If you have boulders, or something like these hardened quickcrete bags to use, lay them in the bottom of the trench like this:
Continue to set in the largest stones you can lift and fit in the trench. The stone should get progressively smaller as you fill towards the top.
3.
3
Pack it tight. Everything should fit like a puzzle - pound rocks in with a hammer where you need to. Urbanite can also be used, and torn up asphalt sections from roads. If you're using old concrete block, break it up into flat pieces with a hammer.
4.
4
Cover with gravel, and tamp. Make sure to swish the gravel around with your hands into all the crevices in your rubble.
5.
5
Lay any pipe or conduit down and pack around it with stone. For good measure, lay an extra water line, and both 2" to 3" graywater and 4" blackwater pipe, just in case you want to tie into them at some point.
6.
6
Put in the stem wall of your choice, to keep your building high off the ground. If you want to continue in the same low-cost, green, site-harvested, ultra-durable tradition, do an earthbag stem wall. This is rows of polypro seed bags filled with either dirt or rock, with strips of barbed wire run between each row for tensile strength. In the standard earthbag stem wall the bottommost rows are composed of bags of tamped aggregate (sand, gravel, rock, etc.), and the rows above are filled with a stabilized earth mix your dirt mixed with either cement or lime, and allowed to cure until it hardens into rock. The stem wall when finished is covered in chicken wire and plastered for lateral strength and to protect the polypro bags. Earthbags are wide and make excellent stem walls for alternative building systems such as cordwood masonry and straw bale - as well as walls of earthbags themselves!
Foundation Types
Floating Slabs (or floating foundations) are concrete slabs with a continuous grade beam. Spread directly under a column or reinforced along the bottom, continuous grade beams carry the vertical load of the columns. Pier, Footing and Grade Beam consist of a square or rectangular footing and a grade beam wall. A driller pier can be used in place of the square or rectangular footing. Piers and footings carry most of the vertical loads. Selecting the right mixture for concrete is important for the long-term maintenance of your steel building. Concrete should be strong and durable. Making concrete is relatively simple. The basic ingredients of concrete are: Water Aggregates (sand and gravel)
Portland cement (Type 1 portland cement is most commonly used) Admixtures (fly-ash or a water retardant mixture). Admixture is used to strengthen or cure concrete as it is poured. There are two ways to measure the strength of concrete. The Compression Strength is defined in terms of X# of pounds per square inch (psi) in 28-days. (28-days is the normal amount of time it takes for concrete to fully set.) The Tensile Strength notes resistance to stretching or expansion of the concrete. Use steel reinforcing rods or bars to increase the tensile strength of the foundation if necessary. The typical strength of concrete is 3000psi after 28 days. To achieve this strength, a mixture using these approximate proportions would be desired: Cement: 94 pounds (43 kilograms) Sand: 185 pounds (84 kilograms) Coarse Aggregate: 360 pounds (163 kilograms) Water: 5.5 gallons (21 liters) Mix these ingredients in a rotating drum-cylinder or a ready-mix truck to insure the concrete is thoroughly blended.
If the concrete floor surface is going to be wet or is outdoors, a metal rake is generally used to contour the surface in order to prevent slippage.
Floor Joints
Joints are required between separate construction components or between different concrete pours. For floors, an expansion joint is used to control the point where normal expansion or contraction of the concrete will take place. Placed where a floor slab abuts a wall or is pierced by a steel column or pier. During the curing process, the concrete used in the floor will contract or shrink. Expansion joints prevent floor cracking during the curing process and also protect the floor against temperature related contraction and expansion.
CONSTRUCTION PHASE
Site Access
Your steel or metal building will be very heavy when shipped and packaged. It will be transported on a large, flatbed truck. It might be packed as high as a typical eighteen-wheel truck loaded with a shipping container. On the day the building is delivered, you will want to ensure the truck carrying it has unobstructed access to the site. Check for overhead wires as well. If the access road is not finished, be sure the truck will not be mired in mud, as it will be carrying an extremely heavy load. Make sure there is an adequate amount of room to work in. The truck needs to be off-loaded so be sure there is a place to put the materials while building. Since steel structures are modular in design, you will want to have a large area to put individual pieces of the building. When planning and designing the building, access to utilities was considered. What was theoretical a few weeks ago is now very real. You should consult with your local utility providers and have an inspector on-site before construction begins. Make sure your crew is familiar with the site they are going to work on. A good contractor makes a work-safe plan for every phase of construction. Steel and metal buildings are unique. You should be certain your building crew is familiar with and comfortable working with the materials. Before assembly, the crew and contractor must be fully familiar with the design drawings. Please note, each steel and metal building is unique. Design plans and building materials are created for specific projects only. The design plan should be strictly adhered to.